Pregamin’ Georgia

Another week, another dope hype video:

So Fresh and So Clean, Clean:

It’s not as crisp as white-on-white, but I’ll take it anyway.

What the “experts” are saying:

• Bill talked about Georgia’s dominant defense and how Josh Heupel might need to cook up some big plays. He also talked about their ground-on-ground attack on the other side of the ball.
• Kirby Smart gave Mizzou the ole complisult in his weekly presser.
• SEC Network’s D.J. Shockley - the former Georgia QB - put Georgia on upset alert against Mizzou. Gotta count for something, right?
• Dawg Sports is worried about Drew Lock and the Mizzou receiving corps. They’re not as worried about Ish Witter.
• Saturday Down South ran a very mean, not nice listicle detailing the unlikelihood of a Mizzou upset.

1. Last week... wasn't awful! The saying being beaten to death is "there are no moral victories," but at some point looking better and losing is better than getting rolled week in and week out. What was most encouraging to you during the Kentucky loss?

dcrockett17 - People need to quit. We ALL believe in so-called "moral victories" to a degree. We have to play well, even if in some limited capacity and even in a loss to be able to eventually win. The running game consistency gave us this season's first glimpse of sustainability. It tells me the offensive line can do some things. Kentucky isn't "Alabama" on defense, but it's also not some imposter. The Cats play a lot of low-scoring slugfests, and were stingy against the run. It's a decent team, whose strength is on D. So, Missouri's ground game accomplished something real. Obviously, Hall having a game and Moore (overall) are encouraging, but with any receivers I need to see three reasonable performances in a row to get excited.

Mitch Hill - Hey, I’ll take a moral victory here or there if it leads Mizzou back to real victories. The most encouraging thing was the offense moving the ball again against good competition. That was fun, keep doing that.

jaeger - I'm with Crockett on this one: acting like moral victories count for nothing is just grandstanding nonsense. As to the game itself, obviously I liked what I saw out of the run and deep passing segments of the offense, but I think what I liked most was the game plan. After a lot of flailing over the last few games, the Tiger offense came out and established the run, then used the run to set up the pass. I think that's why the offense worked - they had a plan and actually implemented it successfully. That goes a long way, even if you still have some limitations (looking at you, completion percentage).

switzy227 - That I didn't want to turn it off until the end. That's meaningful right now.

Chris Bohkay - That they didn't look like they'd never seen the game of football before, so that was nice.

AlaTiger - Just when I thought the game was slipping away early, they sucked me back in with the big play. And then they kept it up and kept me watching.

Josh Matejka - I’ll throw my hat into this ring as well: moral victories exist and can be quite useful for some teams. This one, for example! Having a competitive game against a seemingly OK team is better than getting crushed. Outside of the moral victory, I really liked what I saw from Drew Lock. Obviously the big plays were excellent, but he actually looked like he’d regained some confidence. We all know he can make the big plays, but we’ve never seen any sort of consistency. Last week was the first step to getting better every week... and it was a damn good one.

2. After the loss to Kentucky, the whole "SEC down year" thing became a lot more real to Mizzou fans. Are you more optimistic about Mizzou's final W-L total now that you've seen how mediocre the teams outside of Alabama/Auburn/Georgia are?

dcrockett17 - The team's floor perhaps moved from spectacularly awful to just plain bad. By itself that may not have much impact on the final W tally. It's probably meaningful to Odom's tenure and to recruiting, though. So it's not nothing.

Mitch - I think after this Georgia game, there’s a chance to get something going to end the season. There’s some hope again, and that’s more than what I had last week.

jaeger - Not especially. I mean, if Odom can keep this version of the team showing up after what's likely to be a shellacking by Georgia on Saturday, there's still a chance at building some momentum, but it's going to take a miracle to get to a bowl game, and that's really what this team needs. Not because there's any real value in playing in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (a real thing that I didn't just make up), but because a bowl game comes with an extra month of practice, and that extra month of practice would do wonders for this team going forward.

switzy227 - I am, to a degree. We'll see how the next 3 games go. If Mizzou wins the two they should, I'll definitely feel better about their chances of winning a couple down the home stretch.

Bohkay - Nope, bad football is bad football, and losing to a bad SEC east team isn't a great look, rather lose in that fashion against a good team and not some other bad team isn't a good thing.

AlaTiger - I have no idea how many games this team will win. I have more belief in their ability to compete than I did a couple of weeks ago. Like switzy, I need to see them defeat the remaining non-conference teams before I get too excited.

Matejka - Yeah, I think so. There’s obviously a few factors at work here: I’m both optimistic Mizzou will continue getting better AND that other teams will continue to be what they are. If that’s the case, the Tigers will have a chance to steal some games at the end of the year to go 4-8 or 5-7.

3. There's no getting around this one - Mizzou's chances against Georgia aren't great. But hey, Iowa State pulled a major upset on the Sooners recently, so miracles do happen. What do the Tigers absolutely NEED to do if they want a shot at pulling this off?

dcrockett17 - Schematically, Mizzou needs to invite UGA's offense into ultra conservative mode, looking to avoid turnovers. For its part, the Tigers need to have a day of solid tackling the likes of which we've not seen since Sam, Ray, Golden, et al. Mizzou needs to make this game be about running games and punting. UGA's running game was plenty enough to pound a better Vandy team into submission. Still, I'd rather play against an offense committed to proving it can win with one hand tied behind its back (or not putting anything juicy on tape for future opponents) than one that respects the D enough to gameplan things like putting the LBs in coverage. Oh, and Fat Tony must have the game of his life consistently handing the Dawgs long fields. On offense, I suspect there will be moments of WRs running free in the secondary. Plays must be made.

Mitch - As Kevin Garnett screamed “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!” They MUST score early, you can’t afford another slow start. Mizzou has to take care of the ball, and on the other side, force some turnovers. Not sure how, but just refer back to that Kevin Garnett quote.

jaeger - Two things: they need to bring their absolute A game, and they need Georgia to poop their pants a little. Special teams are often an equalizer in upset games, but I haven't seen anything out of Mizzou's special teams to make me believe that they're going to provide that spark. Realistically, I think they need the offense to show up the way it did against Kentucky - extremely effective run game coupled with some big hits through the air - and for Georgia to turn the ball over a few times. Lord knows Mizzou is due for some luck in the turnovers department.

switzy227 - Keep it close and complete the short passes as well as the bombs.

Bohkay - Is the 2007 team available and still in shape?

AlaTiger - Add efficiency to the explosiveness on offense and FINISH DRIVES. Plus no bad special teams play and just generally get lucky.

Matejka - They’re gonna have to get really damn lucky.

4. PICK EM

Mitch - Another week, another less than fun prediction. Mizzou 20 Georgia 38

jaeger - I still think Georgia steamrolls Mizzou, let's call it 34-14 with Mizzou closing the gap some in garbage time. Biggest thing for the rest of the season is not letting this loss turn into a couple more the way the South Carolina loss did.

switzy227 - I need another week of better performance before I'm convinced, and I don't see it happening against the Dawgs. Georgia wins 45-17.

Bohkay - Georgia 500 - Mizzou 2

AlaTiger - The prediction remains unchanged for another week.

Matejka -Georgia 41 - Mizzou 10